Comedy of Errors
by Sue Penkivech
Summary: With teammates, exgirlfriends, and interruptions conspiring to foul up every attempt, will Bobby ever manage to pop the question? Latest in the Just Kids series! Please R&R!


Sigh Standard disclaimer. I don't own the X-Men, I don't own Kitty and Bobby. If I did, X3 would've been a whole lot different. And obviously, I'm not making any money off of this. Though if Marvel wants to hire me, I really won't complain…

Author's Note: This holiday one-shot is dedicated to Mi-chan17, and follows the as yet incomplete events of "Ghosts from the Past". Some allusions to events that will occur in that fic are inevitable, but should not be considered canon as the afore-mentioned and long-neglected story has already deviated from my original intentions. Special thanks to Luba Kmetyk, beta-reader extraordinaire, and to everyone who's sent feedback and requested more Just Kids stories!

* * *

**A Comedy of Errors**

December 25th

He was going to do it.

Bobby grinned as he skated a bit on the nature-provided ice coating the sidewalk that led from the Institute's garage to the front door. He could have gone through the buildings, of course, and anyone else probably would have done so. But the weather was Christmas-card perfect, with huge, fluffy snowflakes drifting their way down to land on the front lawn, only a slight breeze redirecting them to drifts near the building.

And, more to the point, he had a better chance this way of avoiding run-ins with the rest of the Institute's inhabitants until after he'd found Kitty. Not that he had much hope of that, considering the crowd that had gathered for the holidays, but…

"Somehow, I thought I'd find you out here," a voice said from above, and he looked up to see Kitty air walking her way down from the room they were using. In deference to the cold and the season, she was wearing a fluffy midnight blue sweater embroidered with white snowflakes over a white turtleneck and tight, faded jeans. Her hair swirled loose around her shoulders, drifting with her motion and the whims of the wind, and she was smiling.

He was going to do it, he told himself once more as his breath seemed to catch in his throat and his fingers clawed at the box hidden in the pocket of his jacket. Their anniversary had been a bust, but that was okay. It was Christmas, and for today they were back where it had all begun. Maybe that was better, anyway.

"Well, y'know, there's snow," he shrugged by way of explanation as she alighted in front of him, a sheepish smile forming on his face. "Gotta be the first person out here in it. It's written in my contract."

"Which contract?" she asked, lips twitching with amusement as she turned and slipped her arm through his.

"Oh, the whole Iceman trademark thing," he disclaimed with a grin as he firmly told the butterflies floating around in his stomach to settle down. "If I'm not the first person out in the snow, they'll take the codename and give it to one of the new kids."

"Is there a new student with powers like yours?" Kitty asked curiously as they turned by unspoken agreement to head out toward the fountain.

Shaking his head, Bobby hugged her arm against his side. "Not that I know of, but then, who'd tell me?" he asked without any bitterness. It wasn't even true at this point – Jean had briefed him on the scores of new students when he'd accepted her offer to teach Accounting part time. But still, old habits died hard, and he wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out he had a clone or potential protégé or hell, a kid from an alternate dimension that no one had gotten around to mentioning.

Kitty laughed and nudged his side playfully in response. "None of that. What'll the students think of their newest teacher if he acts as if he's not kept in the loop?"

"That I'll forget when they're holding finals?" he guessed with a mischievous grin, one that faded slowly in favor of a serious expression. "Kit, there's something I wanted to ask you," he began slowly as they reached the fountain and he turned to look at her.

Two years, he reminded himself as their eyes met. Over two years, and he'd been wanting to do this for months. His fingers clasped around the fuzzy-coated box in his pocket and began pulling it out.

Just as a white, fluffy projectile struck him in the face.

Giggles identified the culprit before he managed to blink the snow out of his eyes, and his fingers loosened their hold on the box he'd instinctively iced over. So much for that idea. It'd thaw, though, he reminded himself. It wasn't as if its contents would be harmed by a little ice, even if the box itself ended up being a total loss.

And since the moment was lost anyway…

"Cailin, you are so going to regret that!" he called out to Hank's foster daughter. Directing an apologetic grin to his laughing girlfriend, he wiped the snow off his face and tossed Kitty the first snowball that appeared in his hand.

"Tag team?" he asked hopefully, and was rewarded by an enthusiastic grin.

"Definitely," she replied as she took off after the perpetrator, phasing through the fountain to take the most direct route.

Maybe New Years would be a better time, he mused as he iced over and looped around to intercept. It'd be just the two of them…

* * *

December 31

"But Logan, we have plans," Kitty protested as she paced the narrow confines of the kitchen, heels tapping a staccato on the tiled floor. She craned her head to the side to prop the phone between her shoulder and ear as she reached through the door of the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of champagne she'd put there earlier in the day. Much to her relief, she found it was cold. Their frig had been acting up lately, and while Bobby could chill the champagne, he somehow managed to get rid of all the bubbles whenever he did it.

And they were going to need that bottle when they got home from dinner, she resolved as she shifted the phone awkwardly and put the bottle back inside. Logan was just going to have to find another sitter for the night. Bobby'd been acting odd since Christmas, and she had every intention of finding out exactly what he was up to. And for that, they needed to be alone.

"I know, punkin," Logan all but growled into the phone. A frustrated growl, rather than an angry one. There were days when it amazed her that she could tell the difference between the two, but as she got older she found those days becoming more and more rare. "But we've got an emergency."

"You _always_ have an emergency," she muttered under her breath. Unfair, granted, but she'd been looking forward to this all week. And watching the near year roll in with two year old Ray wasn't part of the agenda for the evening. "Can't Jubilee do it?"

"Off in Kentucky with the hayseed's sister for the rest of the holidays," Logan explained.

"Betsy?" Kitty offered hopefully.

A snort on the other end of the line. "In England with Wings. Seems there's some big charity shindig."

Right, she'd known that. Meggan had called her earlier in the week and filled her in on every last detail she hadn't wanted to know. Still…"Remy?"

"Full team's heading out, Darlin'," Logan explained. Possibly due to the unfortunate benefit of enhanced senses but more likely simply because he'd known her for years, Logan apparently recognized that her resolve was fading. "Have Snowball swing over and pick her up on his way home?" he directed, the note of question in his voice obviously there only to give the illusion that she actually had a choice in the matter. "I'll have Hank's kid keep an eye on her until then, but with everything that went down last month…"

Kitty sighed and nodded. Given Sinister's expressed interest in Jean and Logan's daughter, she wasn't comfortable leaving her in ten year old Cailin's otherwise perfectly capable hands either. "Fine. But you owe me," she added pointedly.

Logan chuckled. "Make dinner reservations at some place Betts recommends for next week, put them on the Institute's card," he instructed. "And tell Drake to remember to use the car seat. Jean had a bird last time, said he had her bouncin' around in the front seat."

"I'll remind him," Kitty replied as she surrendered to the inevitable, then sighed again as she turned off the phone. Apparently tonight was going to be dinner in, for three. Hopefully they'd at least get to crack the champagne open after Ray fell asleep. In the meantime, though…her eyes scanned the refrigerator for the menu for the pizzeria down the road.

If Bobby was going to pick up Ray, she supposed she could at least order in pizza.

* * *

February 13

This time he was going to do it.

Bobby settled back in his chair at the restaurant Betsy had recommended and took a sip of his wine as he waited for Kitty to return from the restroom. This was perfect; no X-Men around, no interruptions, and he'd intentionally left his cell phone on the kitchen counter when they'd left. The restaurant wasn't one he would've picked, but he couldn't argue the fact it radiated elegance.

Unfortunately, without the Braddock name behind them, it had taken them nearly two months to get a reservation to enjoy the elegance in question, but it was going to be worth it. And it was…well, the day before Valentine's Day. Which was close enough, considering that the earliest he could get a reservation here _on_ Valentine's Day was three years in the future, and he really didn't want to wait that long.

Where was Kitty, anyway? Bobby shifted uncomfortably and took another sip of his wine. The longer he waited, the more convinced he became that something was going to go wrong…

"Bobby? Bobby Drake?" a familiar voice exclaimed, and he turned to identify its owner just as a short woman with long black hair threw herself at him. He managed, barely, to keep his chair from toppling over, but only at the expense of his shirt, which was now sporting a large reddish stain from the wine that had splashed out of his glass.

Unsurprisingly, the woman in question was oblivious.

"I thought it was you!" she exclaimed, drawing indignant glares from the occupants of all tables in the surrounding area. "I saw you when we came in, didn't I, Hiro? You remember Hiro, don't you?" she asked as she gestured for her cousin/boyfriend/friendly neighborhood cyborg poet to join them. "You don't mind if we join you, do you?" she asked. Apparently taking Bobby's lingering dazed expression for assent, she pulled over a chair from the empty table beside them and plopped down in it.

"Opal, perhaps we should –" Hiro began.

"Oh, don't be silly, Bobby won't mind. It's not like we don't have reservations," she informed the waiter who approached cautiously, as if wondering whether or not Opal was some sort of supervillain bent on destruction. Amusingly, he wasn't far off. "They're under Tanaka."

Bobby, still feeling somewhat dazed but finally summoning the presence of mind to at least attempt to salvage the evening, opened his mouth to point out that he very definitely _did _mind, but before he could another voice broke in.

"I'm sorry…have we met?" Kitty asked, her tone decidedly cool.

"I don't think so," Opal replied, then turned back to the waiter. "Oh, we'll just stay here, that way someone else can have the other table. That'll be fine, won't it?"

"She's Opal," Bobby explained to Kitty as she slid into her seat, and noted with amused alarm that Kitty's expression had just tipped over the edge from annoyed to outright dangerous.

Right. Somehow, he knew that confiding in Rogue about his…misadventures with Opal was going to come back to bite him someday. And while he had to admit that Kitty's reaction was gratifying, the way her fingers were playing with the handle of her knife didn't bode well for a quiet evening.

"No, you can have the table," he announced, nearly overbalancing his chair once more as he pushed it back abruptly and scrambled to his feet. "And the wine. We really need to get going anyway," he added pointedly, casting a pleading look toward Kitty. Who, he noted, was still staring at Opal as if trying to determine whether or not she was an alien life form, and if so, where her vital organs might be located.

Well…maybe not quite that. But still, the idea of spending what had been supposed to be a romantic evening in the company of both his current and former girlfriends was enough to make him long for the days when the Professor would put out a telepathic call summoning him back to the school to fight the mutant bad guy of the day.

"Oh, you don't really have to go, do you?" Opal protested as she reached for the bottle of wine in an obvious attempt to display the sizable diamond on the ring finger of her left hand. "It's been ages, and I have so much to tell you…"

"Actually, I think we've heard enough," Kitty countered as she got to her feet. "Have a nice evening," she directed solely toward Hiro, then began heading for the door.

Ignoring Opal's continued complaints, Bobby hurried after her. Apparently, Almost-Valentines wasn't going to work out so well after all.

See Just a Couple of Kids, Chapter 23, for the nature of Bobby and Opal's misadventures.

* * *

March 17 – Kitty's cell phone began toning out "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" A few minutes later, she'd rushed off to deal with a security crisis at a customer's office, promising she'd catch up with him in just a bit. By the time she crawled into bed with him at four a.m., she hit the pillow and was asleep within moments.

* * *

April 1 – Kurt's April Fool's joke caught them on the way out the door, liberally dousing them with liquid jello. They'd spent the evening giggling, cursing Kurt, and plotting their revenge, but somehow, it just didn't seem appropriate to propose while sporting green hair.

* * *

April 15 – Dinner plans interrupted when Bobby unceremoniously nodded off at the restaurant and only narrowly avoided a face full of spaghetti. He later reflected that going out to dinner on Tax Day had probably not been one of his more inspired ideas.

* * *

April 23 – Jean and Logan stopped in to wish Kitty a happy birthday, and announced that Rachel was going to have a baby brother. Further life-altering events seemed sort of anticlimactic.

* * *

May 1

"Are you ready?" Bobby asked anxiously.

Kitty laughed, then picked up her purse and turned to see him glancing down at his watch. "Yes, I'm ready. Y'know," she mused as she closed the distance between them and brushed her lips over his cheek, "if you're this worked up about going out, we could always just stay in…"

As she'd half expected, Bobby chuckled nervously and shook his head. "No, it's fine. I mean, I'm fine. I mean…yeah." A sheepish grin formed and he shrugged lightly. "Am I that obvious?"

Kitty nodded and squeezed his shoulder. "You are," she admitted with a smile that held just a bit of mischief. "Of course, if you'd just _tell_ me what you were so worked up about, maybe I could help?"

Actually, she had a pretty good idea. Bobby'd bent over backwards to make sure everything was perfect for tonight with an almost frenetic energy that was totally at odds with his more typical laid back attitude. The fact that his hand seemed to keep clutching around something in his pocket was…well, not confirmation, perhaps, but a definite hint in the right direction.

Which in turn was making something that felt distinctly like butterflies twitter around in _her_ stomach. Despite all his carefully laid plans, she wished he'd just break and ask the question she was pretty sure this evening was leading up to.

Unfortunately for the state of her own nerves, Bobby shook his head and plastered a silly grin on his face.

"Nah. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. And then we'd be really late for dinner," he quipped. Then, as if reminded of his own timeframe, he glanced over at the clock once again.

Kitty laughed and looped her arm through his. "Well, come on then," she urged, tugging him toward the door. "You're the one standing around…"

The doorbell rang. And before she could do more than let out an exasperated sigh, the door swung open to reveal Jubilee, practically vibrating with excitement as she made a rather impressive attempt to glower at each of them in turn.

"Don't you guys ever answer your cell phones?" she complained, crossing her arms over her chest. "I call, and I call, and…"

"Were you calling the right number?" Bobby asked with obvious exasperation as he let go of Kitty's arm and headed for the door as if prepared to usher the youngest X-Man right back out. "Look, Jubes, we were just heading out."

"Well, now you're not," she replied sweetly. Giving up on her attempt at annoyance, she rushed over to Kitty, her hand extended. "Look!" she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Kitty looked. Then wrapped her arms around her "little sister" and hugged her excitedly, then stepped back and looked again at the small solitaire diamond on Jubilee's left ring finger.

"So, Seth finally got up the nerve to propose?" she asked impishly, casting an amused and hopefully pointed look over the younger girl's shoulder at Bobby. A little encouragement couldn't hurt at this point, especially considering the shell-shocked expression on his face. If they could just get Jubilee out…

Jubilee laughed and shook her head. "No, not Seth – as if!" she complained with a sniff. "He kept expecting me to do it, and yeah. So not going there. Not that he's not a nice guy, but…seriously, no." A faint blush formed on her face, and she smiled. "Actually…Sam did."

"Sam?" Bobby blurted out. "You mean, Sam _Guthrie_?"

"Well duh," Jubilee glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. "Do we _know_ any other Sam? I don't _think_ so!" But she turned back to Kitty and nodded, her smile almost shy. "But yeah, Sam. I mean, we were sort of hanging out back at Christmas when I went to Paige's, and, well, we hit it off and we've been dating on and off ever since but, y'know, trying to keep it kind of quiet so we wouldn't hit the gossip circuit. You guys know how it goes," she shrugged.

Kitty nodded. She _definitely_ knew how it went. All too well. If the commencement of her and Bobby's relationship hadn't been totally eclipsed by the events of the time and Logan and Jean's wedding announcement, she was fairly sure they would've crumbled under all the scrutiny. Which was probably, she reflected, the reason why so few in-team relationships lasted. They'd just been lucky that there had been far more interesting things for their teammates to discuss.

"And well, this morning he popped into my room and was doing that really cute stammering thing, and then…isn't it beautiful?" Jubilee continued, bouncing as she re-presented her hand for inspection.

"Gorgeous," Bobby inserted in his best faux-fashion designer voice, then grinned. "Now that we've gaped and expressed astonishment and given our congratulations, can we go?" he asked hopefully, jerking his head toward the door. "Because, y'know, we've got the reservations thing going…"

"Nuh uh!" Jubilee protested with an adamant shake of her head. "Like I would've come all the way over here, just for that? Sorry Popsicle, your gaping could've waited. The thing is," she said as she turned back to Kitty, "I totally need your help because, well, we set the date for next month. So not into the long engagement thing, y'know? I mean, if we're gonna do it, we might as well just _do_ it, right? So there's everything to do and I haven't even told Wolvie yet and we need to pick out dresses and Paige is my maid of honor, of course, but you'll be a bridesmaid, won't you? And…"

Kitty sighed as Jubilee rambled on about wedding arrangements, and directed an apologetic look and shrug toward Bobby. Who returned her shrug and smiled half-heartedly before heading off to the kitchen.

Sighing, she led the still talking Jubilee and her bag full of bridal books over to the couch. She couldn't help feel a few pangs of jealousy as she eyed Jubilee's ring and listened to her ramble about dresses and invitations and color schemes. Hopefully Bobby'd take a page out of Sam's book and just do whatever it was he was planning without making an occasion of it, or they might be at this for years.

* * *

June 17

Bobby sighed as he stared into the mirror and tried to straighten the bow tie Jubilee was forcing him to wear with his tux. Happy though he was for her and Sam, he would've just as soon skipped the whole groomsman thing. Or at least the tie. He still wasn't entirely convinced that all the historical documentation hadn't been rigged. Bow ties almost had to have been invented by someone who had extra hands, maybe that guy from the Mutant Liberation Front…

With a disgusted snort, he let the tie, now crumbled practically beyond recognition, unravel for what seemed like the twentieth time. It was useless. He obviously wasn't meant to wear a tux.

"Having trouble?" Kitty asked in an amused tone.

"Trouble doesn't _begin_ to describe it," he replied with resignation as he turned around, then smiled. "Wow."

Kitty laughed, her hand flipping nonchalantly at the full peach skirt of her dress. "Well, wow is a lot better than I'd expected," she replied as she glanced down at her attire and her mouth formed a moue of distaste. "Obviously, Jubilee chose these with Monet's figure in mind rather than mine or Paige's."

"Oh, I don't know," Bobby grinned as he dropped the tie onto the dresser and moved toward her. "It looks really good to me."

And it did. The peach satin clung to Kitty's curves, emphasizing assets which could be considered limited only when compared to some of the other X-Women, then flared out below her hips. He reached up to tease the bits of her pinned up hair that had escaped her clasp, then cupped his hand against her cheek and leaned in closer. "Of course, if you really want to take it off and skip the whole thing, I'd be okay with that, too…"

He laughed as Kitty's hand came up to slap him on the shoulder. "Okay, enough of that," she replied, shaking her head. "Do you need help with the tie? We're going to be late if we don't hurry up."

He pretended to pout for a moment, then signed and reached back for the scrap of crumpled cloth. "It hates me," he complained as he extended it to her, then waited while she tried to iron out the worse of the wrinkles with her hands.

"Riiiiiight," she agreed sarcastically and directed a doubtful look at him as she gestured for him to duck his head. "I'm sure it's just been lying in wait to try and strangle you too, right?"

"Possibly!" he asserted, then grinned as he looked down into the cleavage of her dress. "Hmm, nice view here, too."

"Watch it," Kitty told him, her eyes narrowing despite the grin that teased at her lips. "I'm holding something I can choke you with, remember?"

"Good point," he sighed as he looked up toward the ceiling to give Kitty's hands more room to tuck and pull at his tie. "Have you seen Jubes yet this morning?" he asked curiously.

Kitty laughed and nodded. "Yeah, she's so nervous she nearly paffed Paige's hair," she replied, her fingers dipping beneath the fabric to straighten something. "She seems happy, though," she added, a trace of wistfulness in her voice.

Bobby frowned as a voice in his mind reminded him that this could've been _their_ wedding, if he'd managed to get a few simple words out. Maybe… "Listen, Kit, I -"

"Well, I'd thought to ascertain whether or not Robert had yet become proficient at the art of securing his own clothing, but I can see that you've rendered my concerns pointless," an amused voice rumbled from the doorway.

Bobby let out a frustrated moan and rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling, abruptly reminded of the primary reason the room they were in at the moment was only borrowed rather than _theirs_.

"Have I interrupted at an inopportune time?" Hank queried.

"Possibly," Kitty replied with a sigh that was considerably more coherent than Bobby's grunt. "Did you need something, Hank?"

"Well, I'd wondered if you might be persuaded to assist Cailin with her attire," Hank replied, voice tinged with amusement. "Apparently, some sort of highly decorative but complicated frippery has detached itself from her dress, resulting in a state of alarm I find myself ill prepared to resolve. But if it's not convenient…"

"No, it's fine," Kitty answered, then stretched up to brush her lips over Bobby's cheek. "Hold that thought," she instructed him before following Hank back out into the hall.

Bobby waited until they were out the door, then plopped down onto the bed to stare up at the ceiling, not even caring that his carefully pressed shirt was undoubtedly acquiring wrinkles. It wasn't fair. He'd been sooo close…

"Just how hard is it to ask, "Will you marry me?" he inquired of the ceiling.

Surprisingly, he received an answer, not from the ceiling but from the doorway.

"I don't know," Kitty asked as she stepped into the room, a teasing smile on her face. "Are you asking?"

Bobby stared at her for a moment, his face reddening, then grinned sheepishly. "If I was, what would you answer?" he retorted as he scrambled to his feet.

"Hmmm. I think I need to plead the fifth on that until you answer my question," she hedged with a smile.

Sighing, Bobby walked over to the borrowed dresser and opened the top drawer, then pulled out a slightly misshapen, much handled box evidencing wine stains he'd been unable to get out completely. "It's kind of a mess," he admitted awkwardly as he opened the box and extracted the ring, "but then, so am I, I guess, and you put up with me. But, well…" he swallowed hard and glanced at the door, then took a deep breath and smiled. "Will you marry me, Kit?"

Much to his relief, the ceiling didn't fall in on them, nor did anyone open the door. No ex-girlfriends or boyfriends arrived in a flurry of activity, the Marauders didn't attack, and no demon sorceresses, future progeny, or former or current X-Men teleported into the room. Instead, he was able to fully focus on Kitty's smiling, slightly flushed face as she replied.

"Yes."

Bobby stared at her a moment longer, replaying the word in his mind to make sure there was no conceivable way he might have misunderstood, then grinned and slipped the ring onto her extended finger. Wrapping his arms around her back, he pulled her into a hug and swung her around, then kissed her as he set her back down again, his head spinning with relief, emotion, and the sound of her laughter.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she teased.

Bobby laughed and shook his head. "You have no idea," he replied with a smile, but cut off any replies as he leaned in to kiss her.


End file.
